From Sleeper Track to No. 1 Hit: the Complete 'End of Beginning' Timeline
By Sarah Jenkins
For an artist who spent years in elaborate disguise to escape his Hollywood celebrity, the track's massive success posed an obvious dilemma: would live audiences treat Djo performances as a concert or as an actor's fan convention? Keery confronted this challenge head-on by performing selective live appearances with his full touring band.
The definitive emotional resolution took place in Chicago. When Keery played the track live in the Windy City, the local crowd bellowed the lyrics back with deafening volume. Thousands of fans screamed the Fullerton line directly into the microphone. It transformed an intimate confession about leaving a city into an anthem of civic celebration.
Music industry observers noted that unlike novelty singles that crash back to zero streams once a viral social media trend cools down, "End of Beginning" maintained strong playlist stickiness. It established regular rotation on alternative radio alongside legacy mainstays like The Killers, MGMT, and Phoenix. Keery had pulled off what Donald Glover achieved with Childish Gambino: establishing an uncompromised musical profile completely separated from his screen roles.
Sarah Jenkins is a veteran tech journalist with over 12 years of experience covering artificial intelligence, mobile innovations, and digital ethics. Her insights have appeared in leading technology publications worldwide.
